Muse – Unintended

• 0
  My Interpretation:Like Michangelina said, the song is a reference to Heart of Darkness, by Conrad. The title was the first tip-off (the Intended in HoD), but there are lots of other little things.
  
  First of all, the second line he says: "choice to live my lie extended". In Heart of Darkness, Kurtz lives to be really, really old. So they're might be some connection there.
  
  Second, when Bellamy says "inquisitions" I feel like that's a HoD reference. In HoD, Kurtz was basically an allegory for the Catholic church: he invaded and conquered "savages" and basically converted them into his little cult. I see "inquisition" as referring to the Spanish inquisition, Bellamy's little nod to the "Catholic church is a dick" theme in Heart of Darkness.
  
  Also, "life I had before" refers to Kurtz's previous life in England, with his "Intended". The "mending" could refer to Marlow lying to the Intended to make her happy.
  
  In HoD, our teacher told us that the two lovers, the intended and the African queen, represented the two different sides of the Church. The Intended was the noble, pure goals of Catholicism, ie to save all of the unenlightened savages, whereas the African queen represented the ugly reality of the Church, a big, violent cult. When Bellamy sings about "...the one who challenged // all my dreams and all my balance" I imagine that he's singing about the African queen, the one who sort of destroyed his noble ideas of saving the savages. "She [the African queen] could never be as good as you [the Intended]"

  Flag kobe107on January 20, 2013   Link

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• 0
  General Comment:One of dozens of songs about settling. Some have never experienced love and never will. And they're content with it. Too bad they waste so much time lying and playing games instead of really living. Good song. Sad that songs like these have replaced a person's heart, soul, and voice, though.

  Flagged Jeffreystumpon December 06, 2012   Link

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• 0
  My Interpretation:I think this song is about someone who has recently broken up with his lover. But, while still dating her, he has already met someone new; his 'unintended'.
  
  "I'll be there as soon as I can
  But I'm busy mending broken pieces of the life I had before"
  
  Although he loves his 'unintended' very much, he needs time to heal the wounds that the previous relationship has left behind. The speaker needs to get his life back on track before he is able to move on and to have a relationship with the 'unintended'.
  
  In my opinion you hear the pain it causes him in the song. He really wants to be able to forget his ex-lover but it is too hard for him, at that point in time. Maybe this is too farfetched but I think he might be afraid to lose them both; his ex-lover and his 'unintended'.

  Flag Jitske96on November 08, 2012   Link

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• +8
  Song Comparison:This song is completely about his past love & a break up with a rebound. Although everyone may have their own interpretations(which is fine) and can relate to this song because of past experiences, this song is NOT as straight forward as everyone would like it to be. No song ever is... From an unbiased and thorough review of this song, it's clear he is not over his past love. He keeps saying you COULD be my unintended, to perhaps a new relationship; HOWEVER, never once did he say that she IS. He keeps mentioning his past love throughout this entire song. He is clearly still haunted by his past love, which is why he can't commit to a new love. He keeps saying, COULD, COULD, to the new relationship, but obviously, he CAN'T because he's still hung up over his ex. Which is also a situation we can all relate to. He feels that his new relationship CAN turn out to something beautiful, but could never until he can finally sort out his life after a heartbreak that has obviously affected his life and made him depressed. When you're still depressed/heartbroken over your last break up, you sure as hell can't start a new relationship, and this is what this song is about. He completely, deeply loved his ex, but it didn't work out and it left his heart in shambles. Also, the verse "she could never be as good as you" is a lie, because at first he talks about his past love, a love so intense that made him blinded, something that challenged his dreams &balance.. but then he quickly changed it to saying she could never be as good as you, possibly to also lessen the heartbreak for the rebound. Matthew is a GENIUS! This song is genius. Very well written. I love songs/lyrics that make you think deeply and read in between the lines.

  Flagged beyondblueon May 23, 2011   Link

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• 0
  General Comment:I love this song sooooooooo much! It's just so amazingly sad when it gets to the first "i'll be there' Part. His voice is UNBELIEVABLY amazing! So high and dreamy :P

  Flagged fayluvsmuseon October 18, 2010   Link

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• 0
  General Comment:This song has become my song of 2010. After a painful divorce after a long marriage I thought I was ready to start the search for a new boyfriend. But I am still angry and a bit messed up, and because I have kids he is still very much part of my life as much as I would like to erase him (and that topic is covered in another Muse song). But there is someone else out there for me I know, my "Unintended"........it wasn't meant to be like this, I thought marriage was for life, but things don't always turn out the way we plan!!

  Flag unintended61on August 12, 2010   Link

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• 0
  General Comment:I absolutely love the video. I thought it was weird at first but grew to like it. Especially at the end, when Matt soooo looks like he needs the whole world to give him a hug. The lyrics are amazing too. Especially the second verse (You could be the one who listens) and the chorus (I'll be there as soon). Such an amazing song all round. <3

  Flagged quornsliceon June 17, 2010   Link

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• 0
  My Interpretation:Well.......
  
  I first heard this just before I met my Mrs and to me it's about how lucky we are to have anything good in our life. I met her chatting on the internet completely by chance and it dawned on me how many small and insignificant factors go into anything coming about, any of which change and the whole thing turns out differently. She just happened to be interested in the same music as me, she just happened to be on the internet at the same time as me, she just happened to live near me, she just happened not to be seeing anyone, she just happened to fancy me, I just happened to fancy her...... if any of these hadn't been the case then both of our lives would be completely different. We've only known each other for a few years, anybody whose had a longer term relationship than that or had anything turn out well just think about the zillions of factors that have gone into you getting to where you are now, take one of them away and it would be different. Not necessarily better or worse, just different.
  
  Love the video as well, the fluidity seems to suit it, the tenuousness and the fragility of everything.

  Flagged tinypodon June 15, 2010   Link

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• +1
  General Comment:I am only an amateur with books, yet, I see some sort of relation to Joseph Conrad's, "Heart of Darkness" with this song. In Heart of Darkness, one of the main character is Mr. Kurtz, a European idealist and very knowledgeable man. He is engaged to a woman he calls his "Intended". In the novel, there lies contrast between Kurtz's Intended and a "black mistress" he presumably has an affair with. Kurtz's black mistress and Intended were two very different women living in different places. However, they shared the same affection despite many obstacles in the way of their love. Drawing from these details, his black mistress may be titled his "Unintended".
  If carefully thought about, these lyrics specifically explain a PAST relationship,
  "First there was the one who challenged, All my dreams and all my balance, She could never be as good as you."
  He may be talking to the "black mistress" in an infatuated tone about how his "Intended" challenged all of his values. Near the end of the story, Kurtz dies due to unfortunate tribulations and his final words are "The horror, the horror." Kurtz's comrade and protagonist, Marlow, sends a message to his "Intended" that Kurtz's final words were her name. He lies to give her some peace of mind from her sorrow.
  
  I also noticed that every stanza is 25 syllables. :) That means it was written in some style of pentameter. Beautifully, and craftily written. Matt Bellamy is a genius. As you may presume, this is one of my favorite songs by Muse. <3
  

  Flagged Michangelinaon March 29, 2010   Link

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• 0
  General Comment:this is definitively about a guy who meets a girl(unintended) and unintentionally falls in love with her, he says if she(unintended) could give him a little time to heal from his last relationship, he could truly love his unintended and show her he does

  Flagged julie2468on November 15, 2009   Link

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